<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>the ways i’ve changed, the things i’ve reclaimed by oakest</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957565">the ways i’ve changed, the things i’ve reclaimed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakest/pseuds/oakest'>oakest</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>he’s baby, your honor [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort No Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, and he fucking gets one!!, but all of the hurt is in the past, we do be using fictional characters to cope though</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:55:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakest/pseuds/oakest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Repeat after me: I am not my father.”</p><p>“Sokka-”</p><p>“Just say it. It’ll work.”</p><p>(One morning, Zuko explores just how much it worked.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>he’s baby, your honor [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>485</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the ways i’ve changed, the things i’ve reclaimed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Zuko is Fire Lord in this, but I’ve never gotten my hands on the comics, so please be gentle if this somehow conflicts with canon. Aside from the gay, gay love, which we’re pretending was canon no matter what.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Sokka asks. Zuko doesn’t realize he’s not alone until the words startle him back into reality. Sokka nuzzles up behind him, arms wrapped around Zuko’s torso where they stand in front of the mirror. Zuko is fully dressed and ready to begin another day as the Fire Lord, but Sokka is still shirtless and warm against his back. Zuko smiles seeing Sokka’s sleepy reflection as the now taller boy (much to Zuko’s chagrin) leans down against Zuko’s shoulder.</p><p>“Nothing. Why are you awake so early?” Zuko replies, stealing a glance away from their reflections to check on the rising sun as it begins to change the colors of the sky outside his bedroom window. Sokka doesn’t answer, just pulls Zuko’s long hair off to one side, and the combination of his warm breath and soft kisses on Zuko’s neck is enough to win back Zuko’s attention. Zuko should ask again why Sokka is up - he hasn’t seemed to be sleeping well lately, and Zuko really does intend to have a conversation about it - but Sokka is so warm and welcoming that Zuko just closes his eyes and leans back into the embrace.</p><p>Though they share a good, long moment in peaceful silence, Sokka speaks again. “You looked so pensive and serious a moment ago.” They make eye contact in the mirror, and the soft happiness fades from Zuko’s face as his mind drifts back to where it had been. Sokka can’t have that. “What’s going on up there?” Sokka knocks his knuckles against Zuko’s temple, smiling when Zuko laughs and ducks away from the touch.</p><p>Even after two years together, Zuko doesn’t understand how Sokka can just <em>do</em> that - he takes vulnerable moments and makes them something that Zuko wants to giggle about. Zuko’s heart, thundering with fear seconds ago, flutters at the sound of Sokka’s proud laugh.</p><p>Zuko could probably spend the entire day admiring Sokka’s easy laughter, but Sokka steels himself a little bit. He nudges Zuko, a reminder to answer his question. Zuko sighs.</p><p>His gaze drifts back upwards to his Fire Lord headpiece. Even though Zuko’s topknot, where the gold flame is situated, is slightly messier than the ones the royal hairdressers pull together, the headpiece still makes him look so... regal. Zuko’s stomach churns.</p><p>Sokka follows his boyfriend’s line of sight up to the headpiece, admiring it for himself for a moment. He loves Zuko in all kinds of outfits, but this - simple yet elegant daily Fire Lord regalia - is probably his second favorite. (Number one is naked, obviously.) This is the Zuko that authoritatively gives orders and decrees, the Zuko that comes back to their chambers with weary feet but a contented smile of pride after a hard day’s work. It’s Zuko at his most professional, and sometimes, Sokka thinks, most beautiful. He’s tempted to vocalize this to Zuko, but he’s learned not to interrupt when Zuko is gearing up to discuss something serious. So he waits, patiently, quietly, while Zuko stares at himself in the mirror.</p><p>“I...” Zuko starts, but shuts his mouth again. Sokka stays silent, but his eyes are alert. Zuko tilts his head, partly to see the headpiece glint in a beam of sunlight, partly to lean closer to where Sokka rests on his shoulder. He swallows. He doesn’t know where to begin; there are so many thoughts swirling around his head that it’s hard to pluck any one of them out and put it into words. Sokka tilts his head to lean right back into Zuko, and the soft skin of his cheek meets the roughened edge of Zuko’s scar. Zuko can’t actually feel the touch through the scarred tissue, but the connection is there nevertheless, right before his eyes. He stares at their reflections and clears his throat.</p><p>“I am not my father.” Zuko blurts it out before he knows what he’s saying. Sokka can’t help himself; a face-splitting smile blooms. He gives Zuko a firm kiss on the cheek for that one.</p><p>“No, you’re not,” Sokka declares proudly. Zuko’s mouth twitches into a small smile, too, despite himself. He can feel the swell of Sokka’s chest against his back, and he remembers the same pride puffing up his boyfriend when they’d first practiced Zuko saying that. Zuko rolled his eyes the first few times Sokka had insisted on Zuko repeating such ridiculous statements, but Sokka’s plans always worked. He forced Zuko to say <em>I am not my father</em> so many times that Zuko can whisper it to himself like a rock that grounds him in a storm.</p><p>“I am not my father.” Zuko exhales steadily. His right hand reaches up, traces along the pointed edges of his headpiece. Sokka watches carefully. “This was his.”</p><p>Though his hand drops back to his side, Zuko remains solely focused on the way his flame sits atop his head, crowning his half-updo the same way his father wore it. Sokka reads between the lines easily, but still has to take a deep breath and choose his next words delicately. </p><p>“You’ve made it your own. You are not-”</p><p>“Not my father. I know, I know,” Zuko finishes for Sokka, earning himself another kiss on the cheek. “I guess it just feels... strange.”</p><p>Sokka nods, though all he really does is jut his chin a little too hard into Zuko’s shoulder. Zuko doesn’t mind. Sokka is still smiling softly at him, so he could probably do anything he wanted and Zuko wouldn’t mind. “Sweetheart, it makes sense that you wouldn’t love the look. You could always start a new tradition if you want, you know.”</p><p>Sokka knows that sometimes, even after all the changes he’s made and plans he’s executed, Zuko still occasionally needs permission before he feels his own feelings. But Zuko shakes his head.</p><p>“That’s the thing. I kind of... like it.” At that, Sokka stays silent. Zuko hesitantly flicks his gaze to Sokka’s purposefully neutral expression. “I mean, not that- I don’t like that it was <em>his</em>. But I do like- I like how I look in it. And I guess it just feels strange to like myself even when I look like him.”</p><p>Sokka laughs, just a little bit. He always tries to stay on the same serious note as Zuko, and always fails. It’s not Sokka’s fault that Zuko’s reluctant self-love is just so damn endearing. He kisses Zuko on the cheek one more time, just because he can’t resist.</p><p>“Don’t laugh at me, I’m serious,” Zuko chides, but Sokka can see the smile hidden behind the pout. He sighs happily into Zuko’s neck.</p><p>“Okay, Serious, I’m Sokka,” Sokka laughs. But his blue eyes hold intensity beyond what the stupid joke requires, and Zuko can hear the unspoken.</p><p>After a moment, it’s too much for him to hold Sokka’s gaze. He pulls himself back to looking at the headpiece. “You don’t think it’s wrong that I like it? Even if- even though it reminds me of him?”</p><p>“If it’s wrong to think you’re hot in your crown, then you should go ahead and lock <em>me</em> up and throw away the key. Because I <em>love</em> it,” Sokka replies, punctuating his meaning with a gentle scrape of his teeth along Zuko’s earlobe. Sokka smiles when the shivers running down Zuko’s spine betray the glare Zuko is attempting to give him.</p><p>Just at that moment, there’s a knock on the door. “Fire Lord Zuko?”</p><p>Zuko squares his shoulders and puts on an authoritative face. Sokka nearly preens with pride, and it makes the corners of Zuko’s lips twitch upwards. Zuko finally turns to face Sokka fully, wrapping his arms around Sokka’s shirtless shoulders and bringing him in for a kiss. When they pull away, Sokka nudges Zuko towards the door.</p><p>“Go get ‘em, Fire Lord Zuko.”</p><p>One more kiss for the road, and Zuko is putting his authoritative face back on. When he opens his chamber doors to meet the advisor calling on him, he’s standing tall, and every guard’s eye is instantly drawn upwards to his golden flame.</p><p>As they all bow, Fire Lord Zuko lets himself smile.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>